By the Books
by Yojimbra
Summary: After the war Sai wants Naruto to ask her out on a date. But she wants everything to be done by the books. Fem Sai, awkward, fluff.
1. Chapter 1

"I would like you to ask me out on a date."

Naruto choked on his ramen. His eye snapped to Sai and that forced smile she always wore. Behind him, he could hear Sakura's chopsticks drop to the counter. It was just supposed to be a casual Team Seven get together. "What why?"

It wasn't that Sai was unattractive. She was probably prettier than Sakura and he might have found the way she had her stomach exposed sexy. But any chance of romance was shot down within minutes of talking to her.

"Well you're a boy," She poked him in the chest. "And I am a girl, is that not why you ask Sakura out all the time?" Sai paused as she considered the fact her book said that boys were the ones to ask girls out they liked. "Unless it's just that you don't like me Naruto."

"What no! That's not it at all!" Naruto waved his hands frequently Sai almost sounded hurt at the thought that he didn't like her. "You're one of my friends Sai and a member of Team Seven! Of course, I like you. I just don't like you how I like Sakura!"

"Leave me out of this." Sakura wiped her mouth with the ramen she had to spit up at Sai's sudden declaration. "Honestly Naruto you should take her up on that offer it'd be good practice for both of you."

Naruto stared at Sakura with his mouth wide open. How could she do that to him! Did their years of friendship mean nothing? She was supposed to be his sidekick! He turned to see Sai with a confused look on her face.

"Is there a difference in how you like me and Titless? You should like me more than her anyways. my boobs are bigger." Sai stuck her chest out to emphasize the size difference.

Sakura had to get a new set of chopsticks as hers suddenly exploded.

Naruto aware of the growl Sakura was making at Sai's comments tried not to look at Sai's chest. "The difference is that Sakura is Sakura and you're Sai, I've liked Sakura for a long time and I think she's pretty."

Sai pondered this for a moment before she snapped her fingers. "Oh, so you like Loli Tsundere!"

They were going to die. Wait, where was that looming sense of doom that always followed whenever sai said something incredibly stupid around Sakura? It was like she had less survival instincts than he did! Which was saying something? Naruto looked to Sakura who was staring into her bowl of ramen, her face free of rage just confusion.

"Why do I feel like if I knew what that was I'd be really mad at you?" Sakura blinked at her ramen. With a hapless shrug, she began to stir her ramen, cooling it slightly. "Because it's the holiday's and I fully support you two idiots dating I'm not going to ask what it is."

"Oh, a loli is a-" Fortunately for Sai naruto's hand was slightly faster than her mouth.

He got in close, those cold eyes of hers raised in confusion. "If you promise not to explain what either of those things are to Sakura I'll go out with you, okay?"

She blinked, her long eyelashes fluttering ever so slightly. Then after what seemed like an age, she nodded.

"I now pronounce you man and wife," Sakura grumbled after a long slurp of noodles.

"Aren't you at least a little concerned that I'm going out with someone that isn't you?"

"Nope, if anything I'm relieved that you won't be asking me out anymore and that Sai will have someone else to infuriate." Sakura gave him that fake overly cheerful smile that was at least half bullshit. "I'm rooting for you two!"

"Well I have a full shift at the hospital, so you two have fun on your date." With that she slapped her chopsticks on the table, her ramen bowl empty. She paused at the threshold. Her smile turned malicious. "Oh and I'm going to find out what a loli tsundere is so… yea."

They were dead so very very dead! And it wasn't even his fault this time! "Do you really not have any sense of self-preservation?"

"That's a big word Naruto," Sai removed his hand from her mouth, her lips forming that well-practiced smile she liked to wear. It was n the painful side of fake, nothing like her real smile that could sometimes be seen, like cracks of like in an old building.

"Oh shut up, Iruka has been making me study so that I don't sound like an idiot when I'm the Hokage."

"But you are an idiot." She smiled, reaching over to give him a light shove. "Well if you ever need help don't be afraid to ask me, I'm quite good at reading."

Naruto slammed his head onto the counter and let out a long healthy groan. How on earth was he going to survive a date with Sai? No matter how attractive she was the woman just thrived off of his misery. "I can't believe I have to date you."

"Speaking of that, you haven't asked me yet," she smiled brushing a bit of her long hair away, showing off her perfect ear and the tender nape of her neck. It was one of the few moments where her natural beauty shined through. Shame she only showed it when she was tormenting somebody.

"Ask you what?" Naruto sat up, trying not to stare at Sai. Dammit, she just had to be so forward about everything! Not that he wasn't forward… he just had… well, he didn't have tact… he… she was just far to blunt!

She gave a soft laugh and blew on her noodles. "Ask me out of course."

Naruto's mouth fell open. And the words died in his throat mostly because Sai began to eat noodles in the sexiest way possible. She slowly took them into her mouth, humming in delight, eyes closed shut before she began to slurp the stragglers up. Great! Why on earth did she suddenly become extra attractive now that he knew she wanted to date him?

Apparently, he was that desperate.

"Wait, wait, wait." Naruto held up a hand and pinched his nose. "You want me to ask you out on a date?"

"Correct."

"And you're going to say yes?"

She paused, that was a great sign! "I haven't really thought about it, I suppose it depends on how you ask me."

Was this what hell felt like? "So you want me to ask you out on a date, but you aren't sure if you'll say yes or not?"

"Correct."

"Guh." This girl was going to be the death of him. He really couldn't believe he was going to do this. It was basically scheduling a time for a headache. "Fine, Sai will you go out on a date with me?"

She snorted. "Not if you're going to ask me like that?"

"Wait, what? How am I supposed to ask you?"

Sai pulled out a book and shoved it into his chest. It was titled 'How to date for dummies'. "That's the book I've been reading about the subject, read it and then come try again."

"I'm not going to read a book just so I can date you!" It didn't stop him from looking at the book. He really shouldn't be surprised that it was written by Jiraiya. The only reason why it shouldn't be burned was the respect he still had for his former teacher.

"Oh," She looked sad. In the most pathetic way possible, if she was next to a freshly kicked puppy, the puppy would feel sorry for her. She stirred her ramen, cold dead eyes losing their focus, soft pink lips slightly parted small frown. Her hand drifted across the countertop and touched his. "But, you said you'd date me if I didn't tell Sakura what a-"

"Okay fine, I'll read the book then ask you out, but if I do what the book says you can't say no again!" Naruto flailed his arms wildly.

"Excellent, I look forward to it."

His ramen was cold. How on earth was he distracted long enough for his ramen?

XXXX

Naruto sank into his couch glaring up at his ceiling, most of his time was already spent plowing through books and taking tests while Iruka lectured him. Why can't he just jump from Chunin to Hokage? That's what Gaara did and that worked just fine.

But now he had to spend what little free time he had to read a book he didn't want to read to go on a date with Sai he didn't want to go on. "Might as well get this over with."

It was written by Jiraiya at least so the book had that going for it. The cover was yellow, with two overly cartoonish figures on it with hearts in their eyes.

"Chapter one," Naruto began, his eyelids already began to droop. "Gauging their interest. The first step to dating someone is to find out if they're actually interested in dating you, now I'm not telling you to ask them, that's has a solid chance of backfiring in a spectacular way. Instead, there are two subtle ways that we as humans show we're interested."

"First, is how often they touch you. Do they stand close to you so that you're constantly bumping into them, or do they stand off to the side arms closed in and trying to avoid contact at all costs? If it's the former you're in luck! The later can be a bit confusing given the type of person they are."

"How often she touches me huh?" Naruto closed his eyes and tried to remember the last time Sai touched him. She touched him a few times when they ate ramen right? Once when she touched his hand, she also poked him in the arm. And what about Sakura? The only time she touched him was during punches, headlocks, and other times she was trying to maim him.

"Sai Touches me a lot," Naruto frowned. "She probably started doing that after she read the book."

"The next way is how they look at you, is it full of disgust, do they smile, or is their face a neutral mask. Smiling is a great way of telling someone that you like them without even saying words. While a frown is a great way of telling people to piss off. Again, lots of smiling is a good sign that they are interested in you. However, there are cases where depending on the type of person that frowning or indifference might also mean that they're into you. Especially if they tend to hit you a lot in such a way, this type of behavior is often referred to as a Tsundere."

Naruto groaned, There was that word again, one that nearly cost him his head. And made his ramen cold. "Wait!"

He sat up and reread that paragraph. "No wait, there's no way that Sakura would have feelings for me, she's after Sasuke after all. Besides what would Jiraiya know? He couldn't get Tsunade no matter how hard he tried."

He flopped back down, his eyes straining.

"Now I hope you've figured out how if they like you or not." He had no idea. "Now for the tricky part in how you interact with them. Look directly at them, men that means no staring at their cleavage while she trying to talk to you." Naruto blinked and made sure he was reading it correctly. Did Jiraiya just write down not to be a pervert? "That might be the first clever smart thing that's been in this book."

"And Ladies, if you put the girls on display don't get mad when he gives them fair tribute it just means he's interested."

And he ruined it.

"Next blah blah blah, be helpful, Sai did that, I do that blah blah blah, Make sure I bath, and smell nice. Approach her, blah blah blah, small talk blah blah blah. Timing is everything, make sure that you're asking them to something you're both interested in."

Now there was part of the problem, he had no idea what Sai liked! Or even if they had similar tastes! Sai liked art. And he … kind of liked art? He thought it was cool and all… but there was just no way that he could stare at paintings all day and not be bored.

"Be confident blah blah blah, I'm Naruto Uzu-fucking-maki next Hokage, got plenty of confidence and I don't actually like Sai so I have no reason to really worry, and be prepared for rejection, well… she did just reject me earlier. If she doesn't it again I'm not going to ask her out again."

Now he had to actually plan a date. Great just great.

 **AN: Remember how I said a long time ago I'd do a fem Sai fic? well hey look! fem Sai! Welcome to By The Books where Sai forces Naruto to go on dates and read books about dating.**

 **Anyways! happy holidays! and I hope you enjoy this chapter/fic**


	2. Chapter 2

There was something immaculate about Sai, she always moved with that same practiced grace, unfazed by the world around her as though she was nothing more than a machine forced to wear that same lifeless smile. It often forced people to pay attention to her, but at the same time kept those people away.

But, that wasn't why Naruto was currently pacing just out of sight of Sai. No, this was rather simple. He had to ask her out on a date and he had to do it just right or she'd probably make him read another book. Naruto groaned placing his head into the smooth wood of the bridge, one eye glaring at Sai as she painted something on one of those three-legged painters things…. He didn't know the name of it.

"Gah! Why am I even doing this!?" It didn't even matter if Sakura found out what a Loli Tsundere was! His neck wasn't technically on the line if he didn't try and protect Sai. And that was like a day ago so it was probably off Sakura's radar given how the last time he saw her she was coming home from the hospital as a zombie that had run off of various drugs and caffeine for the last twenty-four hours.

Which brought him back to this, why was he dressed up? Why was he holding a rose? Why was he staring at Sai? Why was he doing this? He didn't like Sai like that. As far as he could tell aside from physical appeal there was nothing in Sai he found attractive. So why, why.

"Why are you standing there like an idiot Naruto?" A female voice echoed through the covered bridge. "Well I mean, you're always standing like an idiot, because you are one, but right now you look like you're trying to eat the wood."

Naruto turned stiff and turned to see Ino standing there hands on her hips, eyebrow raised ever so slightly. "What are you doing here Ino?"

"Well," She purred tapping her cheek ever so softly, large eyelashes fluttering. "When you came into my store to buy a rose, I was naturally a little curious. Who on earth could have gotten the ever oblivious Naruto to finally notice them? And then I heard from a pink haired little birdie about what happened and I couldn't help but get a little curious - oh and don't worry I filled her in on what a Loli Tsundere is, she wants to schedule you for a beating after your date."

"What? Why's she even going to hit me! I didn't even call her that!"

"Because she might not be a loli, but she is a Tsundere, hitting you is just how she unwinds." Ino did that hair flip into a smile thing that was her way of saying that it's okay to forgive her. It worked so damn well. "So, what's the holdup? Normally you run out there all casanova like, or at least you do with Sakura."

Naruto groaned, "Because I don't know if I want to do this? Its Sai, we have nothing in common aside from being friends and on Team Seven!"

"And that's stopped you before? Honestly, what do you and Sakura have in common?" Ino snorted, "And don't say obsession with Sasuke because that is so not a healthy relationship."

"Well, I mean… she's pretty… And she's well Sakura! Look I don't need a reason to like her I just do."

"Then you don't need a reason to like Sai, look Just go out there and give it a chance, you never know who you might like if you don't try around." Ino pushed herself off the railing with a flourish offering Naruto a small bow. "Now if you'll excuse me I'm late for my date with Kiba."

"Kiba? The one with the dog?" Naruto asked.

"The very same." Ino smiled running a hand on his shoulder before she gave him a soft push towards Sai. "Like I said, give it a chance."

Ino walked away with that extra pop in her hips and a song on her breath.

Naruto looked at the flower in his hand and sighed. He knew Ino was right, well mostly right but come on Kiba? The flower felt like a bad idea, didn't the book say to not bring those? Or at least save them for the first date, not actually asking them out for the first date. "Wow, I really do suck at this."

Right, okay, it was do or die time. He had this in the bag. All he had to do was walk up to Sai and ask her on a date. It was a good decent plan. He'd done more with less, like… well, pretty much his whole life. "Man it's weird having an actual plan."

"I'm going to ask Sai out on a date and I'm going to have a good time. I'm going to ask Sai out on a date and I'm going to have a good time." The girl that teased him for years about being dickless, the girl that had the emotional depth of a bucket, who was either completely oblivious or dirtier than a whore house. "I can't believe I'm asking Sai out on a date."

XXXX

It just needed a few more strokes and then it would be another complete failure. There was just something off about it, something that either was missing or shouldn't be there. Was it the people? The line strokes? Or the scenery? This wasn't the first failure, just another in a long stroke of failure.

"Hey Sai," Naruto's voice sounded from behind her. Good just what she needed, a distraction. "What you working on?"

"Oh, just a painting," Sai looked back at Naruto, putting on just the right amount of smile to show that she was happy to see him, but still slightly concerned with her current project. She noticed that Naruto was holding something behind him, and he seemed nervous. He must be here to ask her out on a date. "What brings you to the park?"

"Oh, well I was just… you know walking around when I saw you," He said with that cheerful grin of his, this one was forced, however, so much like her own smile at times. "Actually, I came here looking for you."

Sai twisted towards him, hands in her lap in a pose she saw in a book, she gave a small laugh and pushed her ponytail behind her. "Well, here I am."

"Yea," Naruto trailed off, scratching the back of his head.

This was her fault, wasn't it? She was horrible at creating small talk, horrible at keeping a conversation going. There was just nothing left to say. Wait what did her book say? Admit something? Switch topics? Make an observation? Ask for help? Get Advice? Wait! Her painting.

"Since you're here, perhaps you can help me," She gestured towards her painting, "I'm having a bit of difficulty with this, perhaps you could enlighten me on what's wrong with it?"

"Well, I'm not really that into art and stuff," he shifted taking a step towards her allowing her a glimpse of the rose he was failing to hide. Oh, he got her a rose. What did Ino say those represented again? Eternal Love and Beauty? No, it couldn't be for her, the book said to save flowers for when you pick the date up, or for anniversaries, or confessions. Wait, was he confessing? "But don't you normally draw animals and stuff?"

"I'm sorry." Sai blinked, tearing her eyes from the rose. She honestly didn't hear most of what he said. "Could you elaborate?"

"It's just that whenever you draw stuff for your Jutsu, its normally a lion or tiger, sometimes a bird and other stuff like that." Naruto half mumbled at the start. "But here your painting just I don't know, doesn't really feel like you I guess? It's missing…"

"Life?" Sai asked, twisting her lips as she stared at her painting, she had wanted to capture a landscape, but it just felt so flat.

Naruto nodded, leaning over her to point at the canvas. His hand -and rose - rested on her shoulder, a soft tender gesture that was just like out of her book, an expression of affection by touching. His finger circled around the empty portion sky. "Like here, maybe you could add some of your birds or something?"

That could actually work! Filling the void with some kind of life no matter how small might just give the painting the depth she was looking for. Birds from a distance were simple, two quick strokes mirrored for a single bird, and again for the next, and one last time for the third. Three birds flying in the open sky, already it felt more complete. "Thank you Naruto, that was actually a wonderful Idea, I'm surprised you could come up with it."

"Hey now, I can think of stuff sometimes." He backed away, taking the rose with him. "But umm, if you want to get more inspiration about life, I do have two admissions to the Zoo if you'd like to go with me?"

Sai smiled, Naruto always had stupid good luck with things falling into place, or maybe he planned this from the beginning. Turning towards him once again, flipping her hair like Ino showed her sticking her chest out and blinking with one of her best smiles Sai gave a small laugh. "Are you asking me out on a date Naruto?"

He groaned, shoulders slumping, "You're the one making me do this."

"I'm not making you do anything, I simply said I would like you to ask me out." there was more to it than that of course. "I'm not going to force you to date me."

"So you don't want me to ask you out?" Naruto asked confused.

"I said I did, that hasn't changed."

"But why do you want me to ask you?"

Sai shrugged her smile falling, she looked out onto the pound where a pair of ducks bathed in the water. "Because I would like to see what its like to date you, nothing more nothing less, and as Sakura said it would be good practice for both of us."

She stood and held a hand out to Naruto, gesturing to the rose he still held. "Now then, give me the rose and let's do this how the books say."

He laughed running his free hand through his hair, cheeks slightly pink. "You're so weird, but okay. Sai would you like to go to the zoo with me as a Date?"

He offered her the rose and she took it twirling the thornless stem in her hands. "I'd love to Naruto, When shall we go?"

"Well, whenever you're ready," Naruto put both hands behind the back of his head, that same overly cheesy smile on his face as he was beginning to relax. The same could not be said of her, heart rate accelerating, palm sweaty.

"Mmm," she hummed tapping on her lip. "Give me an hour to get ready."

 **AN: Hope you enjoy chapter two!**


	3. Chapter 3

Sai lived two doors down from Kakashi - who despite being the Hokage refused to move out of his tiny apartment - It was a plain apartment smack dab in the middle of the complex with the only windows facing outwards to the small yard between it and the next complex. Despite being a nice neighborhood - mostly comprised of single jounin that had served in Anbu - the complex had a reputation: it was filled with damaged goods.

It had a stiff unspoken cleanliness about it that if anything was out of place the entire complex would silently judge them until they left or it was fixed.

It was a perfect place for Sai really, hell Sasuke would probably love the place if he ever came back. But for Naruto, this place was stifling. He could already feel the judgemental glances cast on his back and he was just here to pick Sai up! They all said the same thing, he was too loud, he would disrupt the status quo. He would make their sanctuary a foreign place of chaos.

Thankfully he had no plans of ever living here even if the rent was reasonable.

Why was he doing this? He still hadn't found the answer to that question. He didn't want to date Sai, he was just doing this for the sake of doing it. Which was actually more of a reason than he normally had for doing things. No Ino was right, all he had to do was knock on the door and take Sai out on a date and have a good time. It was easy!

The only thing stopping him was himself…. Right?

Okay, hair check; still an unruly mess that eats combs for breakfast. Outfit; Semi-casual summer wear, perfect for a stroll through the zoo. Wallet; half-full froggy that was going to be very unhappy about today…. How was he broke again?

What did the book say about dating again? Something about just being funny, happy, genuine, avoiding sad topics, put the best version of himself out there. Which shadow clone was that again? Number two thirty-two was pretty suave.

Screw it! He was going to knock! His knuckle stopped an inch away from the door numbers. He was going to knock… any minute now. Any second his knuckle would tap on the wood and Sai would know that he was here for their date.

"Let me give you a hand Naruto." The door knocked on its own without his knuckle touching it. Kakashi passed by in his jounin attire, nose buried in a book, Hokage hat secured at his waist. "Good luck on your date."

Before the world caught up with Naruto, Kakashi had unlocked his own door and was safely inside his apartment. Leaving Naruto alone in front of a freshly knocked on door to Sai's apartment.

"Hey! Wait!" He was too late, way too late.

"Wait for what?" Sai asked, standing in her now open doorway. He had seen Sai in formal wear, he had seen Sai in her battle gear which was as risky as they come. But this, this was unreal, she looked like a mannequin at a high-end fashion store, her clothes both loose and form-fitting was like a sucker punch to the gut. An orange frilly shirt flirted with the waistband of her dull blue pants, the slim black vest that served no other reason than to simply make Sai look that much better. Her hair, normally flat and long against her back was now tamed into a ponytail that showed off the delicate features of her face and neck, while a fringe of her hair billowed out from her brow like a wave crashing down in front of her left eye.

"I uh," Naruto searched desperately for a word, any single word, it didn't matter what it was as long as he stopped standing there staring at a creature that was so beautiful and yet so alien. He swallowed a bit of spit and stood straight, shoulders back. "Wow."

A smile graced her lips, and she rested a forearm against the door frame, lifting her shirt and shifting her hips enough to make the pale skin of her waist visible - something he had seen a million times in her regular shinobi attire - and his mouth watered. "Wow?"  
Her voice was like a purring cat.

"Oh!" Naruto jumped, reality finally catching back up to him as a blush slapped him in the face like he had landed in a cold river face first. She was a ghost in the moonlight, untouchable, unfathomable, and undeniably beautiful. "You just look a lot prettier than you normally do?"

Her arm fell, and that subtle bit of her waist faded from his view. Only to be replaced by her ruby red lips forming a pout. They shined like drops of blood on fresh snow. "So I don't look pretty normally?"

This trick! He had fallen for it with Sakura and just about every girl he'd ever tried to ask out on a date. It still worked. "I mean - That's not to say - It's just that."

She laughed. "Naruto, I know I look better than I normally do." She smiled, finger resting against her cheek. "I am grateful that you've noticed my extra effort."

"Are you wearing makeup?" It was a stupid question, it was obvious that she was, now that he looked at her, she was still pale, but she used that to her advantage, somehow making herself go from porcelain to painted porcelain.

"Indeed I am," Her smile turned into a frown. "Is it too much? I did it exactly how Ino showed me, she said it'd be the second fastest way to get you in bed."

"You…." Naruto trailed off blinking twice to make sure this was really Sai, he was still expecting this to be some kind of a joke. "You want to get me to bed?"

"Of course." Sai folded her hands in front of her tilting her body to the side in an attempt to act like a cute girl from a mushy comic. "How else will I find out if you're really Dickless?"

XXXX

Why did she say that? What made those words come out of her mouth? That wasn't what she wanted to say! That wasn't it at all! Not that she wasn't curious, but that's not what she wanted to say. She wanted to say… what did she want to say exactly?

The cute nervous side of Naruto vanished. The hour she spent getting ready to look good for him to lure him in and make him forget about everybody else if only for a moment was gone. Just like that with a few words.

"Sai," He almost growled, glaring at his feet. Freehand scratching the back of his head. He let out a sigh and his blue eyes flashed to meet her. "Can you please not call me that during our date?"

He smiled, it was forced… kind of, no, it was turning real. If he could do that with a smile, maybe… just maybe he could do that for her. "It kind of spoils the mood."

She took in a sharp breath, doing her best to keep her smile on her face. The book said to smile a lot on the date. To make sure that the other person knows that you appreciate the time you spend with them. She wanted to smile at Naruto every day. And for him to return those smiles. "Understandable, no nicknames on the date."

With a sweeping gesture, he stepped out of the way, giving her a mock bow. "Well, let's get going."

"Yes, I look forward to gathering more inspiration for my paintings." She nodded, bouncing along beside him in the way that Ino showed her. Short quick steps that according to Ino brought out the best of her traits. Ino was probably talking about her boobs… or maybe it was her hair? It bounced a lot when it was in a ponytail, she failed to see how this was any more alluring than how she normally had her hair.

"I like your hair like that by the way." Naruto smiled at her, both hands hidden behind his head as he took giant steps alongside her. It was that goofy way that he walked when he was trying to entertain himself. Was she boring him? The date had only just begun.

Wait, he just complimented her! What was she supposed to do now? Oh right! Chapter six of the book said that she should accept the compliment gracefully and return one of her own to Naruto. Okay, she could do this. "Thank you Naruto, I must say that this was rather a creative idea of yours."

"Really?" His smile vanished but his tone was still cheerful.

"I honestly expected you to ask me out to ramen."

"I was, but after reading the book I realized you'd probably make me go back and ask you again."

"It is still rather thoughtful of you, would you like to go get ramen after we finish at the zoo?" She was already rather on the hungry side, having only eaten half a ration bar. For some reason, her stomach had been too nervous to deal with any more than that. But now, now it was oddly calm, if slightly hungry.

Naruto's hand fell, one side falling to his pouch - where he kept his money.

"The ramen will be my treat." Sai offered quickly. She knew it was a dirty trick, Naruto would agree to almost anything for ramen.

There was that giant smile she wanted to learn more about. "Really Sai! That's great!"

She nodded. "There is one condition."

"Which is?" She really couldn't blame him for that untrusting look he was giving her, it was her fault she both loved and hated to torment him. Ino said it was a school yard crush, her book said that she was just trying to get his attention.

She held out her hand towards him. "I would like you to hold my hand like they do in the books."

It felt like minutes passed as they stood there on a populated Konoha street, her hand outstretched and awaiting his companionship. Was this too soon? Was it just hand-holding? But it was hand-holding with him.

"Uhh," Naruto laughed grabbing her hand. "You're so weird but sure."

She weaved her fingers in between his, feeling his pulse through his hands and feeling that wonderful warmth spreading to her cheeks.

 **AN: Beta'd by xxTerror33XX.**

 **Not a whole lot to say about this one. I enjoyed it. Next update will be for What Is Due**


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